righteous

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈraɪtʃəs/ UK /ˈraɪtʃəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
morally upright; justifiable

She felt a righteous anger at the injustice she witnessed.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · morally upright; justifiable virtuous upright moral just honorable good ethical

Opposites

wicked sinful unjust immoral corrupt

Word family

Forms righteously

Derived forms righteouslyrighteousness

Related forms right rightful rightly

Etymology

Alteration of earlier rightwise, from Old English rihtwīs, from riht ('right') + wīs ('wise, manner'); the ending was assimilated to -ous.

rihtwīs Old English riht Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# righteous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈraɪtʃəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈraɪtʃəs/

## Meanings
1. morally upright; justifiable

## Examples
- She felt a righteous anger at the injustice she witnessed.

## Synonyms
- virtuous
- upright
- moral
- just
- honorable
- good
- ethical

## Antonyms
- wicked
- sinful
- unjust
- immoral
- corrupt

## Derived Forms
- righteously
- righteousness

## Related Forms
- right
- rightful
- rightly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rihtwīs
- Root: riht

## Etymology
Alteration of earlier rightwise, from Old English rihtwīs, from riht ('right') + wīs ('wise, manner'); the ending was assimilated to -ous.

## AI Etymology
Righteous is an alteration of earlier rightwise, from Old English rihtwīs, from riht ('right') + wīs ('wise, manner'); the ending was assimilated to -ous. The historical trail runs through Old English rihtwīs and Old English riht. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. In modern use it means morally upright; justifiable. Derived formations include righteously, righteousness; related forms include right, rightful, rightly.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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